Comic-Con 2012: Disney Panel Surprises With ‘Lone Ranger’ Trailer

Actresses Michelle Williams (L) and Mila Kunis speak at the “Oz: The Great and Powerful” panel during Comic-Con International 2012 at San Diego Convention Center on July 12, 2012 in San Diego, California.

Although the studio didn’t have anything carrying the expectations of a 30-years-later “TRON” sequel or even a “Pirates of the Caribbean”-style follow-up as it has in recent years, Disney managed to drum up significant interest for three of their upcoming tentpoles Thursday afternoon with presentations for “Frankenweenie,” “Oz: The Great and Powerful” and “Wreck-It Ralph.” With films like “Beetlejuice” and Evil Dead II” under their respective belts, Tim Burton and Sam Raimi have become geek mainstays. But their latest projects required a little more of a push than in the past, and Disney’s marketing muscle helped both coast onto fans’ must-see lists by the time the panel was finished.

“Frankenweenie” was first, and Nerdist host Chris Hardwicke brought out Burton to screen a lengthy black and white clip from the movie. More a trailer than an actual sequence from the film, it set up the premise of Burton’s longtime passion project – a kid tries to revive his dead dog – but its purpose was to highlight the film’s cheesy, ‘50s-horror tone, articulated via stop-motion animation. The filmmaker was predictably dry when asked where he developed his eclectic voice. “Growing up in Burbank,” he explained.

“No, I don’t know. I just wanted to mix all of those elements — the horror, the humor and the heart of the story,” he said. “So it was a very personal, special project.”

Burton revealed the history of the project, whose previous iteration was as an animated short that was deemed too weird for conventional Disney audiences – ironically, the filmmaker remembered. “It was designed to go out with an animated film like ‘Pinocchio,’ but when we showed the short people were freaking out,” he said. “But when they watched ‘Pinocchio,’ they were screaming.” He screened two more scenes from the film before fielding questions from the audience, starting with one from a Brazilian man who, quite frankly, posed the query we’ve all been at least a little curious about.

“Aren’t you tired to work with Johnny Depp?” the man semi-innocently asked.

“Yes, I’ve moved onto dogs and puppet characters,” Burton replied.

When a group of fans stepped up to the microphone dressed in regalia from several of his films, Burton beamed with appreciation. “This makes me feel like my family has come to see me,” he said. But the presentation ended on a sentimental note as a young woman fought back tears of joy while trying to ask Burton, whom she described as “her inspiration,” what his experiences are like tryingto get these movies made.

“I feel like you do,” he said. “When I think about it, I start to cry myself. Every movie I burst into tears for lots of different reasons. This one is special to me.”

Sam Raimi’s “Oz: The Great and Powerful” was up next, and the filmmaker took the stage in his trademark sport coat, a longtime homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Describing the film, he revealed, “It’s based on [L. Frank] Baum’s great books and it’s the story of who the wizard was and how he came to be the great wizard. He was a lothario and a cad, selfish, and throughout the course of the journey Oz [becomes] like the land of second chances for him. He’s shown the right way to live his life and he becomes more of a selfless man.”

Raimi then introduced a montage of footage from the film, a rough trailer which not only set up the story but paid homage to its predecessor, the classic fantasy film “The Wizard of Oz.” Actor James Franco’s Wizard makes off in a hot air balloon, only to get swept into a tornado and transported to Oz, where he encounters the comely charms of Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz. The most exciting moment came, however, when the black and white footage that began the clip transformed into color, and expanded from an old-school 4:3 aspect ratio to startling, gorgeous widescreen.

Audience questions were predictably nerdy, but they asked at least one question that only hardcore fans would appreciate: how did Raimi get his trademark 1973 Oldsmobile in a movie where cars don’t exist? “It plays a challenging role,” he demurred. “It had to alter its appearance – part of its camshaft was used in another machine.” Meanwhile, he explained that in spite of its obvious connections to “The Wizard of Oz,” they in fact made relatively few references to the 1939 movie – albeit mostly for legal rather than creative reasons.

“[Screenwriter] Mitchell Kapner really took the Baum books and put those events from the Wizard’s life in chronological order, and then just made up the rest,” he said. “The ruby slippers were unique to the original, so we didn’t have the rights to use ideas original to that film. And characters like the Scarecrow are not part of this picture because it takes place before the “Oz” book or movie takes place. So by the time it ends audience has a sense how came to be.”

Audiences will have to wait until March of 2013 to see how that particular film “came to be,” but “Wreck-It Ralph” is due out in late 2012, and it already had some terrific buzz even before director Rich Moore showed attendees a lengthy, 10-minute clip from the movie. “’Wreck-It Ralph’ is the story of a 1980s video game bad guy who after 30 years of doing the same job decides maybe there’s more to life – midlife crisis. Sets him out on a journey to prove he’s more than just a bad guy.”

The footage was great, first setting up the premise of the original video game, and then leaping inside the machine to show how the characters within the world actually interacted and dealt with one another. Played by John C. Reilly, Ralph has a goofy but melancholy quality, and the scenes shown offered a poignant but still funny look at the character’s identity crisis. They also featured a variety of recognizable video game characters, including King Koopa, Zangief and one of the ghosts from Pac-Man.

The clip also showcased the voice talents of Reilly’s costars Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Alan Tudyk and Jane Lynch. Lynch plays a character in a first-person shooter game entitled “Hero’s Duty,” and Moore revealed that electronic music artist Skrillex would be providing that game’s soundtrack.

Explaining that there were in fact a handful of video game characters whose owners would not license them for the film – “a mustachioed little plumber,” Moore said, referring to Mario of “Super Mario Bros.” fame – Moore guided the actors through a q&a with the audience, and established the film as a major contender for more than their quarters.

Although that certainly would have been enough for most fans, Disney did unveil one more surprise – a trailer for “The Lone Ranger,” Gore Verbinski’s big screen adaptation of the classic western hero. The footage offered plenty of what audiences expected – big action, swaggering attitudes and epic scope – but it also offered something they didn’t: namely, an understated performance by co-star Johnny Depp, who is more or less in a supporting role to Armie Hammer’s title character.

Whether or not the rumored budgetary fluctuations are a signal of trouble or just the studio trying to get it right has yet to be determined. But as the lights came up and attendees offered their own cries of “Hi-ho Silver – away,” it was obvious that the studio had pulled off a hat trick, by making a skeptical crowd not just interested in but eager to see three of their high-profile releases.

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